Politics+Society Articles from Christian Centuryhttp://www.christiancentury.org/section/12/feed/23160%2C23198%2C23073
enWhat do homeless people need? Homes.http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-03/what-do-homeless-people-need-homes
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<p class="p1">In discussions of poverty’s ills and cures, it doesn’t take long for the subject of root causes to come up. Not everyone agrees what those root causes are, of course—or whose fault they are. But it’s often taken for granted that you can’t just tackle a presenting problem directly; you have to go for the root, whatever it is.</p><p class="p1">This certainly isn’t always wrong, but it does have a way of obscuring simple, obvious solutions.</p> </div>
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<p><a href="http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-03/what-do-homeless-people-need-homes" target="_blank">read more</a></p>http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-03/what-do-homeless-people-need-homes#commentshomelessnesshousing firstldsmormonroot causeutahTue, 03 Mar 2015 06:00:00 +0000Steve Thorngate30088 at http://www.christiancentury.orgCredible fearshttp://www.christiancentury.org/article/2015-02/credible-fears
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<p>Last year, the U.S. took thousands of "family units" into custody at the southern border. Nearly every woman cites violence as the reason she fled.</p> </div>
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<p><a href="http://www.christiancentury.org/article/2015-02/credible-fears" target="_blank">read more</a></p>http://www.christiancentury.org/article/2015-02/credible-fears#commentsasylumborder securityCentral Americadeportationdomestic violenceEl SalvadorGuatemalaillegal immigrantsrefugeesunaccompanied minorsundocumented immigrantsTue, 03 Mar 2015 06:00:00 +0000Amy Frykholm30039 at http://www.christiancentury.orgFamily detention hits a snaghttp://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/family-detention-hits-snag
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<p>Early last summer, the Obama administration opened a detention center in the remote town of Artesia, New Mexico, in order to detain Central American women who cross the southern border with their children. The facility was a centerpiece of the administration’s policy of family detention, which aims to “send a message,” as Department of Homeland Security secretary Jeh Johnson said, that asylum seekers from these countries are not welcome.</p> </div>
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<p><a href="http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/family-detention-hits-snag" target="_blank">read more</a></p>http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/family-detention-hits-snag#commentsasylumdhsfamily detentionhomeland securityrefugeesFri, 27 Feb 2015 06:00:00 +0000Amy Frykholm30068 at http://www.christiancentury.orgBaptizing empirehttp://www.christiancentury.org/reviews/2015-02/baptizing-empire
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<p>Matthew McCullough argues that the Spanish-American War signaled a crucial turning point in American self-understanding and self-justification.</p> </div>
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<p><a href="http://www.christiancentury.org/reviews/2015-02/baptizing-empire" target="_blank">read more</a></p>http://www.christiancentury.org/reviews/2015-02/baptizing-empire#commentsAmerican CatholicismAmerican identityAmerican Protestantsspanish colonialismspanish empireSpanish-American WarFri, 27 Feb 2015 06:00:00 +0000Randall Balmer29902 at http://www.christiancentury.orgTheological purity tests will ruin presidents and the presidencyhttp://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/theological-purity-tests-will-ruin-presidents-and-presidency
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<p class="p1">WASHINGTON (RNS) American presidents need wisdom, integrity, good judgment and humility. They should, if they are inclined, be free to draw strength from belief in and devotion to God. What’s more, Americans prefer their presidents to have religious faith.</p> </div>
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<p><a href="http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/theological-purity-tests-will-ruin-presidents-and-presidency" target="_blank">read more</a></p>http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/theological-purity-tests-will-ruin-presidents-and-presidency#commentsFri, 27 Feb 2015 06:00:00 +0000Jacob Lupfer30069 at http://www.christiancentury.orgMedicine and Religion, by Gary B. Ferngrenhttp://www.christiancentury.org/reviews/2015-02/medicine-and-religion-gary-b-ferngren
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<p>At the hospital where I work, families may form relationships with pastoral care staff—but they come for our clinical competence in medicine. Gary Ferngren points out how new and odd this is.</p> </div>
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<p><a href="http://www.christiancentury.org/reviews/2015-02/medicine-and-religion-gary-b-ferngren" target="_blank">read more</a></p>http://www.christiancentury.org/reviews/2015-02/medicine-and-religion-gary-b-ferngren#commentsfaith-based health caremedicinemedicine and health care in early christianitymedicine and religionThu, 26 Feb 2015 06:00:00 +0000Brian Volck29904 at http://www.christiancentury.org“There is nothing that does more to perpetuate injustice than good people who assume that injustice is caused by bad people.”http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/there-nothing-does-more-perpetuate-injustice-good-people-who-assume-injustice-
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<p class="p1">So much religious talk is about naming, about describing a general reality in particular terms. This is important. But in our increasingly secular culture, it’s always striking when someone gets at deep religious truth without bothering with religious language.&nbsp;</p><p class="p1">For instance, Jay Smooth offers a pretty crisp explication here of the nature of sin and virtue.</p> </div>
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<p><a href="http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/there-nothing-does-more-perpetuate-injustice-good-people-who-assume-injustice-" target="_blank">read more</a></p>http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/there-nothing-does-more-perpetuate-injustice-good-people-who-assume-injustice-#commentsethicsjay smoothoscarsracismvirtueThu, 26 Feb 2015 06:00:00 +0000Steve Thorngate29995 at http://www.christiancentury.orgReligious violence?http://www.christiancentury.org/article/2015-02/religious-violence
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<p>Throughout history, people loyal to a higher law have been responsible for much violence. Should we reject appeals to a higher law?</p> </div>
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<p><a href="http://www.christiancentury.org/article/2015-02/religious-violence" target="_blank">read more</a></p>http://www.christiancentury.org/article/2015-02/religious-violence#commentsamerican civil warCrusadesIslamic StateMartin Luther King Jr.ViolencewarWed, 25 Feb 2015 06:00:00 +0000Ted A. Smith29898 at http://www.christiancentury.orgThe rise of religious exemptions from vaccineshttp://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/rise-religious-exemptions-vaccines
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<p class="p1">In January, a&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Timeline-Disneyland-Measles-Outbreak-289520681.html">measles outbreak</a>&nbsp;at Disneyland caught the media’s attention.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.cdc.gov/measles/multi-state-outbreak.html">Over 114 cases</a>&nbsp;appeared not only in California, but in six other U.S. states and parts of Mexico. Even though measles was officially&nbsp;<a href="http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6115a1.htm">eliminated</a>&nbsp;from the United States in 2000, there have been more and more cases of the disease in the last seven years, with over 600 in 2014 alone. That year, one outbreak in an Amish community in Ohio included&nbsp;<a href="http://www.cdc.gov/measles/cases-outbreaks.html">383</a>&nbsp;diagnoses of measles. This particular religious community&nbsp;<a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/06/24/323702892/measles-outbreak-in-ohio-leads-amish-to-reconsider-vaccines">reconsidered</a>&nbsp;its previous relaxed stance on vaccines. The Amish weren’t opposed to vaccination, but rather didn’t realize that measles was still such a threat to public health.&nbsp;</p> </div>
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<p><a href="http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/rise-religious-exemptions-vaccines" target="_blank">read more</a></p>http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/rise-religious-exemptions-vaccines#commentsChristian ScienceimmunitymeaslesvaccinationvaccinesWed, 25 Feb 2015 06:00:00 +0000Kelly J. Baker29992 at http://www.christiancentury.orgA Political Theology of Climate Change, by Michael S. Northcotthttp://www.christiancentury.org/reviews/2015-02/political-theology-climate-change-michael-s-northcott
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<p>Many Americans dismiss climate change reports as fear mongering. Michael Northcott sees the use of apocalyptic imagery differently.</p> </div>
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<p><a href="http://www.christiancentury.org/reviews/2015-02/political-theology-climate-change-michael-s-northcott" target="_blank">read more</a></p>http://www.christiancentury.org/reviews/2015-02/political-theology-climate-change-michael-s-northcott#commentsapocalypseapocalypticclimate changeglobal warmingneoliberalismTue, 24 Feb 2015 06:00:00 +0000Rebecca Todd Peters29906 at http://www.christiancentury.orgCarbon and composthttp://www.christiancentury.org/article/2015-02/carbon-and-compost
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<p>There is too much carbon in the atmosphere. What if one of the most compelling responses is to restore the carbon in the ground beneath our feet?</p> </div>
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<p><a href="http://www.christiancentury.org/article/2015-02/carbon-and-compost" target="_blank">read more</a></p>http://www.christiancentury.org/article/2015-02/carbon-and-compost#commentsagriculturecarbon dioxideclimate changecompostearthgardeningglobal warmingsoilMon, 23 Feb 2015 06:00:00 +0000Norman Wirzba29900 at http://www.christiancentury.orgWalmart employees will soon be slightly less poorhttp://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/walmart-employees-will-soon-be-slightly-less-poor
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<p class="p1"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/20/business/walmart-q4-earnings.html">Some small good news for American low-wage workers</a>: Walmart is increasing its wages at the low end. By April, no Walmart employee will make less than $9 an hour; a year from now it’ll be $10. The retailer is also moving to improve its scheduling practices, a source of worker complaints.</p><p class="p1">Walmart’s decision is a voluntary one, made for business reasons.</p> </div>
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<p><a href="http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/walmart-employees-will-soon-be-slightly-less-poor" target="_blank">read more</a></p>http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/walmart-employees-will-soon-be-slightly-less-poor#commentslaborlow-wage workminimum wagepovertywalmartFri, 20 Feb 2015 06:00:00 +0000Steve Thorngate29970 at http://www.christiancentury.orgThe inhumane humans of ISIShttp://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/inhumane-humans-isis
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<p>With&nbsp;<a href="http://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/02/17/daily-circuit-obama-isis">an authorization looming in Congress</a>&nbsp;for our ongoing war against the so-called Islamic State, a muddled conversation has sprung up about the group’s relationship to mainstream Islam, its relationship to American and European policy in the region, and the military and political measures needed to counter it. Graeme Wood interviewed scholars and activists to shed light on what ISIS is trying to accomplish and why.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2015/02/what-isis-really-wants/384980/">His resulting story</a>—a long tour through the theology, history, and practice of this particularly brutal offshoot of Salafist Islam—is alarming, not least to Wood himself.</p> </div>
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<p><a href="http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/inhumane-humans-isis" target="_blank">read more</a></p>http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/inhumane-humans-isis#commentsISISIslamIslamic Statereligious identityterrorismThu, 19 Feb 2015 06:00:00 +0000Benjamin J. Dueholm29963 at http://www.christiancentury.orgEmbargoed pensionshttp://www.christiancentury.org/article/2015-02/embargoed-pensions
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<p>Cuban Presbyterians used to be part of the PCUSA, and pastors paid into the pension plan. Then came the Castro revolution.</p> </div>
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<p><a href="http://www.christiancentury.org/article/2015-02/embargoed-pensions" target="_blank">read more</a></p>http://www.christiancentury.org/article/2015-02/embargoed-pensions#commentsCubaCuban churchesCuban embargoobama administrationpensionPresbyterian Church (U.S.A.)Wed, 18 Feb 2015 06:00:00 +0000John M. Buchanan29866 at http://www.christiancentury.orgHow French clergy promoted the smallpox vaccinehttp://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/how-french-clergy-promoted-smallpox-vaccine
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<p class="p1">In October 2013, a program entitled “Health Care from the Pulpit” was introduced by Enroll America, a non-profit organization whose purpose is to&nbsp;<a href="http://www.enrollamerica.org/resources/toolkits/constituency-groups/faith/">increase enrollment</a>&nbsp;in services provided by the Affordable Care Act among the previously uninsured. They intend to bring churches of different faiths together to “be engaged in the education and outreach efforts around the Affordable Care Act open enrollment period.”</p><p class="p2">Programs like “Health Care from the Pulpit” have existed for centuries and in a number of national contexts. The greatest example occurred during the spread of the smallpox vaccine in France in the early 19th century.&nbsp;</p> </div>
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<p><a href="http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/how-french-clergy-promoted-smallpox-vaccine" target="_blank">read more</a></p>http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/how-french-clergy-promoted-smallpox-vaccine#commentsaffordable care actFrancehealth carevaccinationvaccinevaccinesWed, 18 Feb 2015 06:00:00 +0000Sean P. Phillips29950 at http://www.christiancentury.orgLocking up kidshttp://www.christiancentury.org/article/2015-02/locking-kids
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<p>Obama's budget includes more money to detain undocumented children. At the largest family detention center, the average child is age six.</p> </div>
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<p><a href="http://www.christiancentury.org/article/2015-02/locking-kids" target="_blank">read more</a></p>http://www.christiancentury.org/article/2015-02/locking-kids#commentsCentral Americadetentionimmigrationobama administrationobama budgetpresident obamarefugeesTue, 17 Feb 2015 06:00:00 +0000Diane Tinsley29869 at http://www.christiancentury.orgWhat the Chapel Hill murders reveal about the place of Muslims in American societyhttp://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/what-chapel-hill-murders-reveal-about-place-muslims-american-society
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<p class="p1">(RNS) Deah Barakat took my class “Islam in the Modern World” at North Carolina State University a few years ago. He was curious about Islamic history and contemporary spiritual and political movements, and he was great&nbsp;in class discussions. I’ve taught thousands of students in the last 11 years here, but Deah stood out for his enthusiasm, kindness, calm demeanor, and obvious charisma.</p><p class="p1">Deah Barakat, Yusor Abu-Salha, and Razan Abu-Salha were the very best of people.&nbsp;</p> </div>
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<p><a href="http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/what-chapel-hill-murders-reveal-about-place-muslims-american-society" target="_blank">read more</a></p>http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/what-chapel-hill-murders-reveal-about-place-muslims-american-society#commentsAmerican MuslimsClaudia RankineIslamMuslim Americansnorth carolinaTue, 17 Feb 2015 06:00:00 +0000Anna Bigelow29928 at http://www.christiancentury.orgYglesias on the would-be "mayor of America"http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/yglesias-would-be-mayor-america
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<p><a href="http://www.vox.com/2015/2/5/7988221/jeb-bush-detroit-mayor">This is a really smart anlysis of how Jeb Bush is positioning himself in the buildup to the 2016 presidential election</a>: he's running for "mayor of America."</p> </div>
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<p><a href="http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/yglesias-would-be-mayor-america" target="_blank">read more</a></p>http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/yglesias-would-be-mayor-america#commentsfederal budgetfederal governmentJeb Bushlocal governmentmatthew yglesiasFri, 13 Feb 2015 06:00:00 +0000Steve Thorngate29918 at http://www.christiancentury.orgHead counthttp://www.christiancentury.org/news/century-marks/head-count
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<p>To little fanfare, Denis McDonough, President Obama’s chief of staff, joined a team on the streets of San Francisco doing a head count of the homeless. It was part of a survey required of cities every two years in order to qualify for federal funding for homeless programs. The president had told Mc­Donough he wanted to know firsthand what the city was doing about the homeless. San Francisco has been able to get 19,000 homeless off the streets during the past decade by expanding housing and support services, but it still had over 6,000 people on the street during the 2013 count. “This is the same sort of challenge we face all over the country. The numbers tell the story,” McDonough said. “I had no idea anyone gave a damn,” one homeless man told the team (SFGate.com, January 30).</p> </div>
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Thu, 12 Feb 2015 06:00:00 +0000Diane Tinsley29874 at http://www.christiancentury.orgReporting trips and ego tripshttp://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/reporting-trips-and-ego-trips
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<p>Reporting from Iraq or Afghanistan, Darfur or Haiti, can be alluring and exciting. But the minute some people put on that flak jacket, something happens.</p> </div>
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<p><a href="http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/reporting-trips-and-ego-trips" target="_blank">read more</a></p>http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-02/reporting-trips-and-ego-trips#commentsbrian williamsjournalismreportingWed, 11 Feb 2015 06:00:00 +0000Chris Herlinger29843 at http://www.christiancentury.org